Sunday, November 04, 2007

Runs created by position in 2007 (part 3)

with 9.7 runs created per game, Alex Rodriguez created almost 3 runs per game more than Chone Figgins (6.8), the runner-up at the third base position. Brandon Inge (4.1 RC/G) finished 13th among 15 players with 300 or more plate appearances. He's a great fielder but I think he'll need to improve on his run production next year if he's going to keep his starting job. In 2006, Inge finished 6th with 4.8 RC/G.

Table 1: Runs Created by AL third basemen in 2007

Rank

Player

Team

PA

R/G

RC

1

Rodriguez

NYA

708

9.7

154

2

Figgins

LAA

503

6.8

81

3

Lowell

BOS

653

6.4

101

4

Glaus

TOR

456

6.0

66

5

Iwamura

TB

559

5.6

77

6

Izturis

LAA

374

5.5

51

7

Beltre

SEA

639

5.4

92

8

Blake

CLE

662

5.1

86

9

Chavez

OAK

379

4.6

47

10

Fields

CHA

418

4.6

51

11

Mora

BAL

527

4.5

63

12

Gordon

KC

601

4.4

69

13

Inge

DET

577

4.1

62

14

Vazquez

TEX

345

3.6

33

15

Punto

MIN

536

2.7

39

In a weak year for left fielders, Hideki Matsui led the league with 6.5 RC/G. He was followed by Carlos Crawford (6.3) and Manny Ramirez (6.2). The only qualifying Tiger, Craig Monroe, finished last with 2.9 RC/G. The Tigers should improve on that next year by default. Ryan Raburn (5.4 RC/G in limited action last year) or (Marcus Thames (5.3 RC/G lifetime) might be good in a platoon. However, Timo Perez (3.9 RC/G lifetime) would probably not be the best left-handed platoon partner. Table 2: Runs Created by AL left fielders in 2007

Rank

Player

Team

PA

R/G

RC

1

Matsui

NYA

634

6.5

100

2

Crawford

TB

627

6.3

100

3

Ramirez

BOS

569

6.2

84

4

Ibanez

SEA

636

6.2

97

5

Anderson

LAA

450

6.0

68

6

Willits

LAA

518

5.5

68

7

Kubel

MIN

466

5.4

64

8

Stewart

OAK

630

5.0

80

9

Catalanotto

TEX

377

5.0

47

10

Tyner

MIN

328

3.9

34

11

Payton

BAL

470

3.7

47

12

Brown

KC

397

3.7

39

13

Lind

TOR

311

3.4

29

14

Johnson

TOR

307

3.1

25

15

Monroe

DET

372

2.9

31

Curtis Granderson led all AL center fielders with 7.8 RC/G in 2007. He will likely need to improve against left-handed pitching in order to match that rate in 2008. I think that will happen but I'm not sure we can expect him to do much better. Ichiro Suzuki (7.2) and Grady Sizemore (7.1) were next in line among center fielders.

Table 3: Runs Created by AL center fielders in 2007

Rank

Player

Team

PA

R/G

RC

1

Granderson

DET

676

7.8

126

2

Suzuki

SEA

736

7.2

123

3

Sizemore

CLE

748

7.1

123

4

Upton

TB

548

6.9

92

5

Swisher

OAK

659

6.3

99

6

Lofton

TEX

363

6.2

54

7

Hunter

MIN

650

5.6

96

8

Damon

NYA

605

5.6

83

9

Byrd

TEX

454

5.5

62

10

Matthews Jr.

LAA

579

4.8

72

11

DeJesus

KC

703

4.7

83

12

Cabrera

NYA

612

4.4

71

13

Patterson

BAL

503

4.4

59

14

Crisp

BOS

591

4.3

67

15

Wells

TOR

642

4.1

71

16

Owens

CHA

389

3.7

38

17

Erstad

CHA

347

3.5

33

Magglio Ordonez (9.5 RC/G) easily led all right fielders including Vladimir Guerrero (7.7) and Jack Cust (7.6). Magglio's previous high was 7.9 runs per game so I wouldn't expect him to repeat his 2007 performance. He did create 7+ runs per game regularly before his injury though so I think we can expect that kind of production in 2008.

Table 4: Runs Created by AL right fielders in 2007

Rank

Player

Team

PA

R/G

RC

1

Ordonez

DET

679

9.5

142

2

Guerrero

LAA

660

7.7

119

3

Cust

OAK

507

7.6

87

4

Buck

OAK

334

6.4

52

5

Rios

TOR

711

6.4

111

6

Abreu

NYA

699

6.1

104

7

Markakis

BAL

710

6.0

108

8

Guillen

SEA

659

5.9

97

9

Gomes

TB

394

5.5

55

10

Drew

BOS

552

5.4

72

11

Cuddyer

MIN

623

5.4

84

12

Gutierrez

CLE

301

5.0

40

13

Dye

CHA

561

4.9

72

14

Teahen

KC

608

4.7

74

15

Young

TB

681

4.3

78

16

Nixon

CLE

354

4.1

36

17

Cruz

TEX

333

3.3

30

David Ortiz (9.5 RC/G), Jim Thome (7.8) and Magglio Ordonez (6.5) were the three leading run producers among designated hitters. Sheffield should be able to repeat that figure or do better if he is healthy in 2008. At his age, a full recovery and a full-season is somewhat questionable however.